PaulineWebberInk does the Great Vic

Day 2 BRUTHEN TO BRIAGOLONG When you spend six hours a day on a blazing strip of bitumen, you quickly come to appreciate trees and grass, shade and water. These are our luxury each day - to find a shady spot with little breeze and something soft to sit on. Left town and again straight into a hilly run. I found form late morning, getting a whole long stretch at a steady 22km. I'm mastering my gear combinations and doing a slightly better hourly speed. Through market gardens. Lots of big lettuces. Farming country - rolling hills with mountain range in the distance. There are a lot of cops on bikes along the way. A couple, fully armed, are in front of me. If you can't take a gun out of the equation on a community cycling tour, when can you? Kiwis, Canadians, a Norwegian, all the Australian states, Aboriginal boys and girls from Yuendumu, central desert and SA. I heard a Scots bloke behind me in the dinner queue lamenting that he;d never seen a kangaroo in the wild despite two months travelling in Oz. He'd decided they were a myth like the Loch Ness monster.